Spammers use opt-out links to plant trojans

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Email security provider MessageLabs says senders of spam are now using the opt-out link to turn PCs into open proxies for distributing more spam.

In a media release, the company said email users should not click on such opt-out links provided in spam emails.

The company said the new exploit used a bug in Microsoft's Internet Explorer to download an executable file when a user clicked on such links.

Once this file was on a PC, it could be remotely updated by spammers. Machines were then vulnerable to having passwords stolen and keyloggers installed, as well as becoming an open proxy.

Thin clients preferred

A study by Wyse Technology has found that seven out of 10 people prefer to use a thin client rather than a PC to carry out everyday office tasks.

A media release said 110 people were asked to conduct a set of everyday business tasks using Microsoft Office on both a Wyse Winterm thin client and a business PC of average power.

None of the users were told what they were using.

When the users were asked which device was faster to use and which they would prefer as a desktop, 70 percent expressed a preference for the thin client.

The test was conducted by Winmark, a London-based market research consultancy specialising in IT product testing and market
research.

The test used a Wyse Winterm 1125SE thin client, the second cheapest in the Winterm range, connected to a Citrix Metaframe server running
Microsoft Office 2000. The server was powered by a single processor 2.4GHz
Intel Zeon loaded with 11 active users running Office applications,
making the test representative and fair.

The PC ran Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional and Microsoft Office 2000. It was powered by a 1.3GHz AMD
Duron and included a fast 100ATA 7200RPM hard disk and Nvidia Gforce
graphics card.

Both the PC and Citrix server were attached to the same
Microsoft Exchange server.

NetIQ joins anti-phishing group

Web analytic firm NetIQ has joined the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) to help in the fight against phishing attacks.

A media release said NetIQ would help develop technology to combat phishing and use the phishing repository that the APWG maintains to provide customers with the latest filtering rules via NetIQ's SpamCensor technology which is present in its MailMarshal products.

These NetIQ solutions prevent harmful and offensive messages from entering the gateway.

Indian railway selects Nortel

Eastern Railway, one of Indiaís major railways, has selected Nortel Networks as the sole provider of a GSM for Railways (GSM-R) digital wireless network.

A media release said Telecommunications Consultants India, an Indian Government enterprise, was working with Nortel through a public tender to deliver the network.

TCIL will deploy a communications network based on Nortel Networks GSM-R technology for the 261km, 24-station rail line running between Eastern Railway divisional
headquarters in Howrah (West Bengalís second largest city) and Pradhankunta.

The new network is scheduled for completion within a year.

AIMIA awards

The Australian Interactive Media Industry Association says entries have opened for its 11th annual awards, to be held on
February 4 next year.

New award categories will be Best Mobile/Wireless and Best Cross-platform.